Local · September 25, 2026

Royal Ontario Museum Unveils Landmark Exhibition Featuring Group of Seven and Contemporaries

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) opened a major exhibition showcasing 88 paintings from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, including works by the Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, and notable female artists of the era.

The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has launched a landmark exhibition titled This Land, featuring 88 paintings from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Running from November 22, 2026, to September 4, 2028, the exhibition brings together works by the Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, and other significant landscape artists such as Emily Carr, Yvonne McKague Housser, Anne Savage, and Bess Harris.

Organized into eight geographic sections—Georgian Bay, Algonquin Park, Algoma, La Cloche Mountains, Lake Superior, Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, and the Arctic—the exhibition guides visitors through a range of Canadian landscapes. From the forests of Algoma to the peaks of the Rockies and the Arctic tundra, the presentation offers a journey across Canada’s diverse terrain.

This Land highlights often-overlooked female contemporaries of the Group of Seven, including Anne Savage, Yvonne McKague Housser, and Bess Harris, broadening the narrative around this period in Canadian art. The exhibition also features an interactive “I-Spy” element, encouraging visitors of all ages to observe the artworks from different perspectives.

The exhibition is presented at ROM during the McMichael Canadian Art Collection’s temporary three-year closure for a redevelopment project. This partnership allows the core of the McMichael’s collection to be shared beyond its usual location. ROM adds new interpretive layers based on its own collections and expertise, offering insights into the landscapes, geography, and plant life depicted, and highlighting connections to Indigenous place names and narratives that are often omitted from the original artworks.

ROM members had exclusive access during preview days in November 2026, and McMichael members receive free admission on select reciprocal exchange weekends, including January 16 and 17, 2027. Tickets for the exhibition require an additional $9 surcharge on top of general admission.

Visitors can experience the changing Canadian seasons through the artworks, from autumn forests and vast waterscapes to northern ice fields and remote wilderness scenes. This exhibition provides an opportunity to explore the legacy of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries in a new urban setting, enriching public appreciation of Canada’s artistic heritage.

Why it matters

This exhibition makes a significant portion of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection accessible to a wider audience during the gallery’s redevelopment closure. By showcasing both the Group of Seven and their female contemporaries, and by integrating Indigenous perspectives, ROM offers a more inclusive and layered understanding of Canada’s landscape art. It invites visitors to engage deeply with national identity and cultural history through iconic artworks in Toronto’s premier museum setting.

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